5 Easy Steps to a Remote Linux Desktop

Remote Graphical Linux Desktop

March 12, 2010

Virtual Network Computing (VNC) allows you to log into a full desktop on a remote server (as opposed to just opening windows on your local machine, as with X11 over SSH). It can be very useful, and it's very fast to set up.

Step 1

I chose to use vnc4 (there are other options, such as TightVNC), so the first step was the vnc4server Debian/Ubuntu package on my remote server. Once vnc4 is installed, run it for the first time to finish setup, and set a VNC password:

vncserver :1

This starts a daemon off, rather than vnc4 running in the foreground. You'll get your shell prompt back once it's running.